Heerhugowaard (; West Frisian Dutch: ''Heerhugoweard'', ''Heregeweard'' or ''De Weard'') is a city in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in the province of North Holland and the region of West Friesland. Heerhugowaard was previously a municipality, which merged with the former municipality of Langedijk into the new municipality of Dijk en Waard on 1 January 2022.

History

Around the year 800, the area of the modern

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

of Heerhugowaard was covered in

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

fen. Because of peat-digging and storm floods many lakes developed in the region, including the Heerhugowaard. The name is derived from lord ('heer' in Dutch) Hugo van Assendelft who was killed by the West

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany ...

in this area in 1296. After two storms in 1248, the abbey of Egmond, which had much property in this region, built the ''Schagerdam'' at Schagen. This became part of the Westfriese Omringdijk, which protected the pentagon Schagen - Alkmaar - Medemblik - Enkhuizen -

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ...

. Uncontrollable increase of the lake had been prevented. In the 17th century private investors decided to drain the lake to create farmland. In 1630 the polder was drained and was , and the land was divided among the initiators. In contrast to e.g. the Beemster, the quality of the new land was very disappointing. In 1674 there was even a serious proposal to refill the polder with water, reasoning that the area would be more profitable as fishing water. A major event in the recent history of Heerhugowaard was the unexpected victory of Princess Margriet at the first-ever held ''Keegelfestival'' of 1961. This

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thoug ...

festival was an annual event until 1984, when the organising bowling club declared bankruptcy due to financial mismanagement.

Geography

Heerhugowaard is part of the province of North-Holland and is located in the west of the Netherlands. The

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclam ...

of Heerhugowaard is situated 3 metres under sea level. The surrounding land is flat as it is formed of large polders. To the southwest of the city lies Alkmaar.

Topography

''Map of Heerhugowaard (town), 2014.''

Climate

Heerhugowaard has a cool

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfb''), strongly influenced by its proximity to the North Sea to the west, with prevailing north-western winds and gales. Winter temperatures are cool to mild. Heerhugowaard, as well as most of North-Holland province, lies in

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

Hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

9, the northernmost such occurrence in continental Europe.

Frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above- freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a g ...

s mainly occur during spells of easterly or northeasterly winds from the inner European continent, from Scandinavia, Russia, or even

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

. Even then, because Heerhugowaard is surrounded on three sides by large

bodies of water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ...

, as well as enjoying a significant heat island effect, nights rarely fall below . Summers are moderately warm but rarely hot. The average daily high in August is . Days with measurable

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hai ...

are common, on average 189 days per year. Nevertheless, Heerhugowaard's average annual precipitation is only . Most of this precipitation is in the form of protracted drizzle or light rain, making cloudy and damp days common during the cooler months of October through March. Only the occasional

European windstorm European windstorms are powerful extratropical cyclones which form as cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure. They can occur throughout the year, but are most frequent between October and March, with peak inten ...

brings significant rain in a short period of time, requiring it to be pumped out to higher ground or to the seas around the city.

Cityscape

Population centres

The former municipality of Heerhugowaard consisted of the following towns, villages and/or districts: Broekhorn, Butterhuizen, De Noord, Draai,

Frik Frik ( hy, Ֆրիկ) was an Armenian poet of the 13th and 14th centuries. He wrote on both secular and religious topics, and many of his poems are characterized by social criticism. He was the first Armenian poet to compose almost all of his works ...

, Kabel,

't Kruis In the Dutch language, the word t () is a contraction of the article "het", meaning "the". 't can be found as a ''tussenvoegsel'', a word that is positioned between a person's first and last name. Careful writers should use an apostrophe () in fro ...

, Veenhuizen, Verlaat, Oostertocht, Bomenwijk, Schilderswijk, Rivierenwijk, Edelstenenwijk, Stad van de Zon.

Building

In the course of time the population has grown. In 1960, Heerhugowaard had 6,800 inhabitants; this number became 25,000 in 1975, 47,239 in 2004 and 48,267 in 2005. In May 2007, Heerhugowaard welcomed its 50,000th inhabitant. Currently, Heerhugowaard has approximately 55,000 inhabitants. For several years in the 1970s, Heerhugowaard was the fastest growing municipality in the Netherlands. It is intended that Heerhugowaard eventually will have at least 60,000 inhabitants. The general expectation is that around 2050, Heerhugowaard will be the size of the nearby located City of Alkmaar, and will have approximately 100,000 inhabitants. There are problems with retaining the youth however, so that this number might never be reached. As young people leave their parents' homes, they prefer to move to other places such as Alkmaar or

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. The major part of the inhabitants lives in so-called Vinex-districts. The rural core of the North lies in the Middenwaard. The core of the south is at Stationsweg by the old church. In the polders there are small hamlets. The greater part of the town is new developments. The best rural core is in the villages of Centrumwaard and De Noord. Heerhugowaard has a small shopping area in Centrumwaard, and a large shopping centre in the district of Middenwaard. There is a cinema. Since 2004 there has been a coffee shop in Heerhugowaard. This coffee shop however, has met with fierce opposition from some of the local population, who have bombarded the coffee shop with stones several times. The other part realizes this establishment is there to make sure the laws are respected (e.g. no sales to 18- ) and to make sure there is no cross pollination between soft and hard drugs. Heerhugowaard has a number of subdivisions which were set up the same as in Almere, for example the writer district, the tree district, the planet district, and the nature area of Butterhuizen. In two of the newest districts, called Stad van de Zon I and II (= City of the Sun I and II) the energy supplies for a considerable part comes from

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an ...

Parks

The surroundings of Heerhugowaard are quite varied and beautiful. Not far from Heerhugowaard you will find several landscapes. East of the agglomeration there are different kinds of flower bulb fields. In the mid-1980s, 61 hectares of woodland were planted, the "Waarderhout". Of course you will also find much farmland in the region of Heerhugowaard.

Shopping centre

One

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes ...

in Heerhugowaard is Middenwaard, owned by real estate investment company Wereldhave. Middenwaard was built in five phases. Construction began in 1974, while the last phase was completed in 2008. Because of this phased development, the shopping centre has an odd external and internal appearance. Meanwhile, Middenwaard has been renovated and has an unambiguous appearance nowadays. Middenwaard offers a large variety in stores and services, including:

Transport

Heerhugowaard has good connections with the neighbouring places. Buses go to and from Alkmaar, Bergen NH, Broek Op Langedijk and Ursem. Also Heerhugowaard has Interliner links. Heerhugowaard railway station is on the railway routes to

and Den Helder, Alkmaar -

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, and Alkmaar - Haarlem -

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

. Heerhugowaard is on the N242, the N508 and the N507 road.

Government

The former municipal council of Heerhugowaard consisted of 31 seats, which were divided as follows: ''* = separation of Burgerbelang

Sister cities

Heerhugowaard has one

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

Notable people

* Theodorus Dekker (born 1927) a Dutch mathematician who developed Dekker's algorithm Tess Wester (2018)

Sport

* Rudi Lubbers (born 1945) a retired Dutch boxer who competed at the 1964 and

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

* Monique van der Lee (born 1973) a former Dutch judoka, competed at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

* Anousjka van Exel (born 1974) a Dutch former tennis player *

Arvid Smit Arvid Benjamin Smit (born 12 December 1980) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the assistant coach for the Netherlands women's national team. Career Smit was born in Heerhugowaard, No ...

(born 1980) a football coach and former professional footballer with 224 club caps *

Stefanie van der Gragt Stefanie van der Gragt (; born 16 August 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Inter Milan and the Netherlands national team. She has represented her country at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and 2019 FIFA Women ...

(born 1992) a Dutch footballer * Tess Wester (born 1993) a Dutch handballer who plays as goalkeeper for Odense Håndbold and the Dutch national team

Gallery

File:Aarde en Water Nic Jonk Heerhugowaard Dolomiet.JPG, Earth and water, by Nic Jonk in Dolomiet Square File:Poldermuseum Heerhugowaard.jpg, Poldermuseum Heerhugowaard File:Intenieur, aanzicht orgel, orgelnummer 639 - Heerhugowaard - 20417152 - RCE.jpg, Intenieur, aanzicht orgel, orgelnummer 639 - Heerhugowaard File:Heerhugowaard-Alkmaar 25 Jan 2011 - panoramio - Heiloo.jpg, Heerhugowaard-Alkmaar 25 Jan 2011 - panoramio - Heiloo File:Heerhugowaard molen Veenhuizer.jpg, Heerhugowaard molen Veenhuizer

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Former municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland Polders of North Holland Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2022 *